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Yesterday morning a young Toronto socialite entered a boutique on Queen St. W. with her mother at her side.

They weren't there to shop.

As the store's owner recognized them, she burst into tears. And while the distraught mother wept nervously, the socialite bowed her head, apologized for her actions and asked the store's owner for a hug.

For the previous 24 hours Deena Pantalone had been the target of a vicious online smear campaign among the city's fashion community – vilified for telling a Toronto Life reporter the candy-red cocktail dress she was wearing at last week's Butterfly Ball was vintage, when in fact it had been created by a local designer.

On Wednesday, Toronto Life blogger Courtney Shea singled out Pantalone as the best-dressed woman at the ball, applauding her for transforming a discarded vintage find with the help of an unidentified seamstress.

When Shea asked Pantalone, "Who designed your dress?" she said, "Well, me, sort of. It's a really old vintage dress I've had lying around the house for years."

At the same time, the Star published a photo of Pantalone with her mother, taken at the same event, a high society fundraising event held last week to support Boost, a children's charity. Pantalone told the Star the dress is by Christian Dior.

But Caroline Lim, designer and owner of Champagne and Cupcakes in Parkdale, knows differently.

"I sold her that dress myself in April. It cost $159. It was between a red one and a green one, but we decided the red one had more of a wow factor," said Lim, by phone, moments after the awkward morning faceoff.

The case of the misidentified dress got local fashion designers and consumers hot under the collar. They emailed and blogged and tweeted their wrath. But mostly they went on the Toronto Life comments section where they could let off steam anonymously.

Lim weighed in early: "You should be ashamed of yourself."

Maria wrote, "I have this dress too – but in an electric purple ... BUSTED!"

"It got really ugly," says Lim, as each rageful comment fuelled another. Lim eventually put out a plea for calmer heads. "It's nice that they want to stand up for me but some of the things they said about her were nasty.

"When I first saw the image on the blog I was hurt and upset. I remember her as being outgoing and really excited about the dress," says Lim.

According to Lim, a friend had called her when she saw the dress on the Toronto Life site, but she was confused because she knew Champagne and Cupcakes doesn't sell vintage. Perplexed, Lim logged on and flipped out.

"It's not even about the dress anymore," says Lim. "It's about justice."

Lim was still upset when the two Pantalones entered her store yesterday morning.

"It was an emotional encounter. She looked frazzled and told me that she wanted to apologize to my face. She told me she drove in all the way from Vaughan."

Mostly Lim wanted to know why Pantalone would tell two very different stories about the dress – both untrue. Why did she twist the truth about the pretty red dress?

According to Lim, Pantalone said she was overwhelmed by the media attention and perhaps felt she needed to elevate her story – a fantastic vintage find she reworked to one reporter, Dior to another.

Deena is the thirty-something daughter of Rene and Rocky Pantalone. Her dad is president of National Homes in Toronto and Deena is a partner with her siblings in a local development firm.

Despite repeated attempts, Deena was unavailable for comment.

Toronto's fashion world is not stepping up to talk publicly about the incident. And society types are keeping their distance. One leader of the pack, however, said Pantalone may hire a publicist to help her with damage control.

Fashion designers are weary of having their creativity stolen, says Jennifer Halchuk, who co-designs the label Mercy. The Toronto label recently settled with New York designer Diane Von Furstenberg, who appropriated the design of a jacket from their spring '08 collection.

"It's about giving designers the credit they deserve," she says. "Designers and consumers are really sensitive about this kind of thing these days. I'm just glad she apologized."

Halchuk also believes Toronto's enormous fashion industry is tired of being branded trivial.

One blogger on the Toronto Life site blustered, "The good news for everyone is it's only fashion and not something that actually matters one iota."

Halchuk takes offence.

So does Lim. "I have a university degree. I've run my own business for eight years. Fashion is an enormous industry."

As Rene and Lim stood sobbing in the boutique, Deena was outwardly contrite. She shed no tears, says Lim.

She did, however, express a hope that this incident would not affect their relationship and a wish that she could continue to shop at Champagne and Cupcakes in the future.

The truth is, the society girl may have to get in line.

Thanks to the controversy, orders for Lim's spirited cocktail dresses are pouring in fast – and furious.

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